Summer is winding down and, in the days, and weeks following Labor Day, will become a pleasing memory for most of us. Our thoughts will turn to Autumn with all that it has to offer.
Yesterday (August 29), I got together with two friends to begin laying the groundwork for what we hope will be a highpoint of the coming season. Concord's author extraordinaire, Margaret Porter and the legendary Laura Knoy (NHPR's The Exchange for starters) are no strangers to our community. For years, people have listened to Laura on the radio, read Margaret's books and enthusiastically attended events that we have collaborated on.
In both 2022 and 2023, we joined forces to present a free evening highlighting some of the wonderful authors that write in our community. On May 7, 2024, we will be presenting a new group of literary talents.
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However, the reason for our latest get-together was to make preparations for the October 18, 2023, gala that marks the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Concord Theatre on South Main Street. The theater opened its doors on Wednesday, October 18, 1933, and until it closed in September of 1994, was a destination for generations of the moviegoing public.
For all of those 61 years, Theresa Cantin was the face of the theater. She sold the tickets, created the ads that ran in the Concord Monitor, handled the bookkeeping responsibilities, made the popcorn and most importantly, negotiated the deals for the films that played the theater. AS a woman, she had to fight the booking agents for major theater chains in her effort to bring quality entertainment to "my people" as she affectionately referred to her customers.
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Assisted by her two sisters (Laurie Cantin and Rena (Cantin) Constant) and her brother, Maurice, she even locked horns with Joseph P. Kennedy, father of the future President.
Kennedy owned a New England based theater chain, Maine, New Hampshire Theaters. They owned the two local theaters, the Capitol and the Star on Pleasant Street. Kennedy hated the notion of a woman trying to play the films he felt should be played at one of his theaters. He even came to Concord to confront her. Theresa refused to back own and prevailed. She outlasted both of his downtown theaters, the local drive-ins, the arrival of television, cable, video and the arrival of movie complexes. She only closed when her health became precarious and the demands of trying to secure quality films became too much.
I arrived at the theater in June of 1967, as a teen and student at Bishop Brady High. I remained, in some form, until the very end.
Theresa would highly approve of the amazing work that has been done to the theater, as it became the Bank of NH Stage in 2019. Until the building was sold in 1998, the same year that Theresa passed away, the interior looked almost the same as it did in 1994 when the final film, Andre ended its run. Today, it is a state of the art performing venue that provides an array of quality entertainment to the area.
On October 18th at 7 PM, it will briefly return to what it was in its heyday as a movie theater. A FREE evening of memories, special guests and a movie on the big screen are among the highlights.
Margaret, Laura and I, as with all of our events, are providing this as a gift to the community. There is no admission fee, although tickets are required. However, in obtaining the tickets, there are no handling fees involved. Simply go to the website for the Capitol Center/Bank of NH Stage at ccanh.com and click on tickets or visit the box-office, Monday - Friday between noon and 6.
We feel that giving people the opportunity to experience this evening, as well as our author events, should not cost anyone. It should be available to all.
Laura Knoy will host the evening and chat with the guests. I will even share a few memories with her and talk about the book I wrote about the theater's storied history, The Concord Theatre and Concord's Love Affair with the Movies (2019) for which another local legend, Barry Steelman, wrote the Foreword. It's available at Gibson's and if you love movies and want to know why they mattered, locally, it's a fun read.
The film that played to the most customers (more than 15,000) during the Concord Theatre's years, was Valley of the Dolls (1967). In second place was Moonstruck (1987) which played to more than 14,000 paid customers in early 1988, almost half the city's population at the time.
It was one of the most beloved films to ever play. Audiences applauded particular scenes, and cheered at the end as they reluctantly exited the theater. It seemed apropos, therefore, to make Moonstruck the film selected to be shown on October 18. If you have never seen it on the big screen and with an audience, this is your chance to experience the true magic of the moviegoing experience.
Please join Laura, Margaret and me along with our special guests to mark the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Concord Theatre. Be a part of this celebration of a piece of our past that remains relevant and exciting. Hope to see you there!
